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☆ American Express just hired a new top cloud executive who was the CTO at Groupon and led tech at Goldman Sachs' Marcus
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( Bianca Chan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

American Express just hired Sachin Devand as EVP and unit CIO of digital, data, and AI/ML tech. Devand is the former CTO of Groupon and was a managing director at Goldman Sachs. American Express just nabbed a new top cloud executive to oversee the development of cloud-based solutions, Insider has learned. Sachin Devand, the former CTO of ecommerce marketplace Groupon, joined the company on Monday after only eight months at Groupon, according to a person familiar with the situation. During his stint at Groupon, Devand was focused on increasing automation and streamlining the company's tech stacks.

Meanwhile, the number of "mega-deals" — or funding rounds of more than $100 million — dropped to its lowest level since 2018, CB Insights also reported. According to CB Insights, the volume of payments-related dealmaking reached nearly $4 billion, or slightly less than a third of all fintech funding. And while that's not a record-breaking amount, payments are accounting for a larger amount of the fintech funding pie. One year ago, when third-quarter fintech funding topped $36 billion in the midst of a bull market, payments accounted for roughly 20% of overall funding volume. But even amid a relative pullback in broader fintech funding, payments represent a safe, evergreen thesis because it is a largely complicated and analog space.

☆ Schonfeld is rolling out a team focused on credit in another sign of Wall Street's rising interest in debt investing
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Everybody wants to be a lender these daysStop me if you've heard this before, but a Wall Street firm wants to invest in debt. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors, the $14 billion family-office-turned-hedge fund is building out a new group focused on credit within its macro trading business, Insider reports. A general rule on Wall Street is that firms like to build businesses around complex things. A simple process means it is easily repeatable by someone else, which means more competition, which means smaller margins, which means less profit. The SEC issued $2.2 billion in fines on public companies, including 13 fines larger than $100 million, during its 2022 fiscal year, The Wall Street Journal reports.

☆ Fintechs should have partnerships with more than one bank as regulatory scrutiny ramps up, according to an industry insider
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Asia Martin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Fintechs often have one bank partner because of the lengthy due diligence process. As fintech and bank partnerships receive heavier scrutiny, financial-technology companies shouldn't place their eggs in one basket, according to one insider. Fintechs should have more than one bank partner in this regulatory environment, John Beccia, CEO of consultancy FS Vector, said while speaking at Money20/20 USA. Beccia cited Blue Ridge Bank, which has faced regulatory issues from the Office of Comptroller of the Currency over its third-party fintech partnerships. And fintechs, if they only have one bank partner, they'll be left without a partner," said Beccia.

☆ Top VCs view payments startups as 'inflation hedged.' Here's why they're so bullish on the space.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

At least one sector is primed to thrive, according to some top investors in the space. Payments are a bright spot with potential for growth heading into 2023, according to nine fintech investors Insider surveyed. And while inflation has been a sore spot for nearly every startup, it is actually a potential benefit in the payments space, according to another investor. To read more about the five different payments trends VC investors see the most promise in, click here. Bloomberg details how top firms like Citadel and JPMorgan are designing office space on Park Avenue with plenty of perks.

☆ Bank instant payment shift to help business and consumers, says EU
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Huw Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

European Commissioner Mairead McGuinness proposed a draft EU law that will require banks across the 27-country union to offer and receive "instant payment" (IP) services for a fee that is the same or lower than they charge for traditional credit transfers. Currently, some banks charge far more for an IP transfer, up to 30 euros ($30) in some cases, compared with traditional transfers. "We want to extend euro instant payments internationally at a later stage," European Commission executive vice president Valdis Dombrovskis told reporters. "By mandating instant payments, the biggest blockers to open banking payments becoming mainstream are instantly solved," said Tom Greenwood, CEO of instant payments gateway Volt. Currently, non-bank payment firms are excluded as they don't have direct access to payment systems, but Brussels plans to revise its rules to allow them to compete alongside banks in IP payments, an EU source said.

☆ 'Seismic shift' in bank payments to help business and consumers, says EU
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Huw Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LONDON, Oct 26 (Reuters) - Forcing banks across the European Union to offer instant payments in euros is a "seismic" shift to make the economy more efficient and reap savings for businesses and customers, the bloc's financial services chief said on Wednesday. "By mandating instant payments, the biggest blockers to open banking payments becoming mainstream are instantly solved," said Tom Greenwood, CEO of instant payments gateway Volt. IP allows people to receive and make instant payments 24/7, critical if payday falls on a weekend, and for businesses to manage their cash flows by receiving funds instantly after a sale. Banks will have to screen daily their IP customers against the most updated EU sanctions list, which has expanded since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Currently, non-bank payment firms are excluded as they don't have direct access to payment systems, but Brussels plans to revise its rules to allow them to compete alongside banks in IP payments, an EU source said.

☆ Fintechs have been getting crushed this year, but the sector's biggest investors say payments are a key area to watch in 2023. Here's what they are most excited about.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Emilia David | Carter Johnson | Bianca Chan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

☆ U.S. consumer agency to move ahead with 'open banking' rule this week
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Hannah Lang | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

(Reuters) -The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) will move forward this week with an “open banking” rule that could dramatically boost competition in the consumer finance industry and increase Americans’ access to financial services. FILE PHOTO: Sign is seen at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) headquarters in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 29, 2020. The U.S. Congress mandated open banking after the 2008 financial crisis, but the CFPB only issued an ‘advance notice of proposed rulemaking’ seeking feedback on a potential rule in October 2020. “In consumer financial services, we have a number of highly concentrated submarkets: the credit reporting conglomerates, the card networks, the core processors, and more. Proponents of open banking argue that it would make it easier for non-banks like technology companies to compete with traditional financial institutions, lowering costs and boosting millions of Americans’ access to financial services.

☆ Here are Monday's biggest analyst calls: Apple, Meta, Chevron, AT&T, Disney, Coinbase & more
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Here are Monday's biggest calls on Wall Street: Jefferies downgrades Williams-Sonoma to underperform from hold Jefferies said it's concerned about a softer macro environment. Wells Fargo reiterates Disney as overweight Wells said it continues to like the stock heading into earnings in early November. " Bank of America downgrades Meta to neutral from buy Bank of America said it's concerned about an ad spending slump heading into earnings later this week. Mizuho reiterates Coinbase as neutral Mizuho said it's staying neutral on Coinbase as losses continue to "linger" on the company's platform. Bank of America reiterates Apple as neutral Bank of America said it sees a balanced risk-reward heading into Apple earnings later this week.

☆ Premarket stocks: Why investors aren't going green
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

ESG funds in September saw their largest outflow of investor cash since the March 2020 recession. These ESG and responsible investing funds saw assets under management peak above $8.5 trillion in late 2021. That’s because ESG ratings agencies tend to rate companies against others within their industry, so oil and gas companies are rated separately from automotive companies. A debate over how to regulate ESG funds is also adding to the noisy picture. But the hurdles facing ESG investing show that doing so is easier said than done.

☆ Europe's neobrokerage startups face winter of cuts and consolidation as trading volumes slump and VC funds dry up, industry sources say
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Europe's neobrokerage startups face cuts and consolidation as funding dries up, sources say. For startups that can't fundraise it's "shoulders against the wall," one investor told Insider. Europe's brokerage startups are facing a winter of job cuts and consolidation as the sector battles with slumping trade volumes and a scarcity of investor cash, industry sources say. The drop-off has made raising funds a difficult exercise for many fintechs and has also led to a bifurcation in the market of the "haves and the have-nots," one London-based investor told Insider. Market consolidation will be driven by price, one fintech fund partner told Insider.

☆ FEMSA's fintech arm eyes 10 million users in Mexico by 2023
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Valentine Hilaire | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Daniel Becerril/MEXICO CITY, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Spin by Oxxo, the financial technology initiative launched by Mexican bottler and retailer Femsa, is set to reach 10 million users by 2023, up from four million currently, Spin's Director General Asensio Carrion told Reuters. Spin by Oxxo, which has been financed with internal funds, has quickly become a major player in Mexican fintech. For comparison, Latin America's largest fintech Nubank has about 2.1 million customers in the country, while local player Stori aims to hit the two million client mark by 2023. Mexico's Grupo Financiero Banorte, in its second-quarter results, said it had 6.7 million digital clients. The company has more than 20,600 Oxxo stores across Latin America, and has plans to increase the number by 50% over the next decade.

☆ Inflation has people living paycheck to paycheck. Here’s how some banks are responding
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Alicia Wallace | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN Business —“Payday Friday” may soon be replaced by “Payday Wednesday.”This week, JPMorgan Chase, America’s largest bank, became the latest financial institution to offer customers early access to their direct deposits. Also, in the past year, several banks such as Bank of America, Citi and Chase have started scrapping overdraft fees. Services such as early access to direct deposits and waiving of overdraft fees come at a time when historically high inflation is draining consumers’ excess savings, said Mark Hamrick, chief economist for Bankrate. “At a time when prices have been high on a continuing basis, that has robbed consumers of purchasing power,” he said. So if there’s an interruption in income, that means individuals are going to be facing increased financial stress.”

☆ German online bank N26 to launch crypto trading in Austria
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

FRANKFURT, Oct 20 (Reuters) - German online bank N26 said on Thursday it would begin allowing some customers in Austria to trade cryptocurrencies, in its first foray into the asset class. N26 said it would expand the service to clients elsewhere in the coming months and eventually facilitate the trade of almost 200 cryptocurrencies. The crypto asset sector is largely unregulated in most countries and regulators have warned investors face a high risk of losses. The European Parliament is expecting to vote on groundbreaking new rules for crypto assets in December or early 2023. "The purchase of crypto assets constitutes a high risk and may result in the loss of the money spent," N26 said in a footnote of its announcement.

☆ JPMorgan Chase, taking a feature from fintech rivals, gives some customers early payday deposits
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Hugh Son | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

JPMorgan Chase is giving some customers early access to their direct deposits, a feature popularized by fintech rivals, as it hopes to attract users to a no-overdraft checking account. While smaller rivals including Capital One have said they are dropping overdraft fees, the CEOs of the three largest U.S. institutions have repeatedly refused calls to end the charges altogether. Instead, banks have drawn attention to existing products that protect users from overdraft fees, while still offering most of the functionality of full-service accounts. The service, which is targeted to households that earn around $55,000 or less a year, has about 1.4 million users, MacDonald said. Start-ups including Chime and Current have popularized early direct deposits as they've gained millions of cost-conscious users.

NEW YORK, Oct 18(Reuters) - Impactive Capital continues to engage with WEX Inc (WEX.N) to bolster the payments company's fortunes, including using depressed valuations across the financial technology space to make beneficial acquisitions, the activist's managing partner said on Tuesday. The firm has been a shareholder since early 2021 of Portland, Maine-based WEX, which provides payments solutions and virtual cards to businesses including travel, fleet and healthcare. "Private and public company market valuations have come back down to earth and many payments companies are in desperate need of cash," Taylor Wolfe said. "We expect companies like WEX to be able to pounce on compelling acquisition opportunities in the coming years." Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by David French and Svea Herbst-Bayliss Editing by Nick ZieminskiOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ CEO David Solomon Is Restructuring Goldman Sachs Again
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Michelle Abrego | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

David Solomon is changing up Goldman Sachs divisions like he switches tracks. Goldman Sachs's third restructuring in four years comes as insiders have been questioning the direction that Solomon is taking the storied investment bank in. But first, read Dakin's rundown of who's up and who's down in the latest Goldman Sachs restructuring under CEO David Solomon. The Swiss bank's investment bank chief Christian Meissner is also set to leave the company in the coming weeks. Keep updated with the latest business news throughout your day by checking out The Refresh from Insider, a dynamic audio news brief.

☆ Inside how ESG fintech OpenInvest is helping JPMorgan roll out a variety of tools focused on sustainable investing
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Asia Martin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

JPMorgan acquired OpenInvest in 2021 to meet client demand for sustainable investing. OpenInvest, a sustainable-investing robo-advisor, has spent the past 13 months integrating into JPMorgan following the bank's acquisition of the startup in August 2021. Josh Levin, OpenInvest cofounder and chief strategy officer, told Insider clients are able to view things like how much carbon or tobacco the client has avoided funding. OpenInvest is helping JPMorgan work with other fintechsMurray and Levin told Insider that JPMorgan's acquisition represents more than an opportunity to upgrade the bank's sustainable investing offering. And so, we're gonna be looking to work more readily with fintechs in the future," Murray told Insider.

☆ Analysis: Mexico's non-bank lenders may now need bank licenses to survive
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Isabel Woodford | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

During the pandemic, the non-bank institutions grew to represent 20% of Mexico's private credit market. Also known as "shadow banks," they offer everything from unsecured credit to payroll lending to Mexico's 4-to-5 million small and medium-sized businesses. Now banks are less willing to finance non-bank lenders. "Non-bank lenders will always play a role. Some nonbank lenders hope to stick with the existing business model, which emerged to tackle the country's reported $160 billion funding gap.

☆ PayPal is trying to leverage its $4 billion deal for Honey with a new feature that combines cash-back rewards across the payments giant. Here's why it made the change ahead of the holiday season.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Emmalyse Brownstein | Carter Johnson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

PayPal is combining cash-back rewards earned through Honey, PayPal's debit and credit cards, and the PayPal app. PayPal acquired Honey in 2019 for $4 billion, and this is its latest strategy to "leverage" the browser extension product. The payments giant will announce on Monday plans to combine the cash-back perks of several of its offerings into one system, called PayPal Rewards. The new tool will allow customers to pool cash-back rewards earned from their various products: the PayPal app, PayPal Honey, and, in the future, PayPal's Cashback Mastercard and PayPal's debit card. The expansion of PayPal's rewards offering also comes as established competitors like JPMorgan Chase,Wells Fargo, and CashApp continue to leave an impression on the market.

☆ What recession? JPMorgan is growing headcount and standing firm on its plans to spend big on tech despite its own CEO's recession warnings.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Carter Johnson | Emmalyse Brownstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon sounded the recession alarm earlier this week, saying he sees one in 6 to 9 months. But on Friday, the bank said it's growing headcount and moving forward with aggressive spending plans. But notable among JPMorgan's financial figures was headcount growth. This quarter, headcount overall at the bank was 9% higher than the same time last year, at roughly 288,000 employees worldwide. The growth in employees at JPMorgan came in contrast to Wells Fargo, which also reported earnings Friday.

☆ Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman says there's about to be a "washout" of fintech valuations and a wave of consolidation. Here's how the bank is thinking about potential deals.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Hayley Cuccinello | Bianca Chan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman predicted a "wash out" for fintech firms in an earnings call. The market is volatile, but Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman sees it as a return to normalcy. Companies trading at 50 times revenue, what's gone on with Bitcoin trading at $60,000, and what's gone on with GameStop and other companies," Gorman said in the third-quarter earnings call on October 14. Consolidation in the fintech space is nothing new to Morgan Stanley, he added. Fintech founders, however, have been reluctant to face their new reality, according to a slew of VCs.

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☆ Wesley Chan's FPV Ventures coleads $10 million round in Astra, a fintech startup that makes it easier for companies to embed payments technology into their businesses
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( Emilia David | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The startup raised $10 million in Series A funding led by FPV and Slow Ventures. Astra, a fintech startup that's developed technology to allow developers to embed financial automation into existing products, raised a $10 million Series A along with a $30 million line of credit. "Everything was going really, really fast and really big, so we said, why not ride this growth." For example, B2B payments company Hopscotch recently raised $6.1 million in additional funding in March. Akos said one of Astra's goals is to move upmarket and begin providing payments services to startups in the later stages.

"Look, bank-fintech partnerships, they're here to stay. OVERWEIGHT CRYPTOOn cryptocurrency, Hsu said he was actually worried policymakers in Congress and regulators are overextending themselves to the detriment of other areas. "It's interesting, it has thorny issues... but relative to other technology and banking issues, I think we're now kind of overweight crypto." "Crypto is just occupying a lot of brain space for an awful lot of people, both on [Capitol] Hill and the regulatory community," he said. "The persistence of the occupation of brain space, it’s starting to worry me now that we’re not spending that time and attention on some other things."

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